Letting go as a way of life
An exercise to increase awareness & daily practices to stay rooted to what truly matters
In my meditation practice, I have learnt to focus on the breath by letting go of everything else that isn't the breath. Every distracting thought - plans for future, things to do, ideas to execute etc. are allowed to come and go. In fact that is the practice of meditation - to repeatedly let go. And as I learn to get better at this, I have begun to explore how I can take this learning to other areas of my life.
Today, I invite you to join me in this exploration. Get a pen and a paper ready & let's get started.
Step 1:
Key question to first answer would be, what to hold on to & what to let go?
Clearly, we would like to hold on to that which makes us come alive, makes us joyful, lights up a smile on our face and makes our heart leap with happiness.
Put your pen to paper and begin writing what these are for you. Put down everything that comes up. Take your time and allow the answers to come from your heart instead of the head.
Once you are done writing, give your list a read. I hope it resonates with your values & what matters most to you.
Naturally, the more you do the things on this list, the happier you will feel.
Step 2:
So now that we know what to hold on to, let's cultivate awareness of everything we indulge in that distracts us from focusing on the things we listed in Step 1.
Turn the paper around and begin writing what you feel comes in the way. Again take your time. There is no right or wrong. Let the answers come from your heart.
Step 3:
Now we know what to hold on to, and what comes in the way. It's time for the last step - determining what to let go.
Take a new sheet of paper and start writing this down.
While we have made this awesome list, I know most of us (me for sure) look like this octopus in the cartoon strip by @Steinbergdrawscartoon trying to let go. Which is totally ok 🙂
Drawing awareness to what we need to let go of is the first step & we did that today. So yay us 🙌
Let's now move on to some practices to remind ourself to stay true to what truly matters. I will share with you a few daily rituals that you can look at incorporating into your day that I have been using myself:
1. Check in with yourself from time to time on how you are feeling:
Sometimes things stick to us without us even realising it. And a few moments of mindless activity that's not serving can spiral into many hours if we are not watchful.
I like to set an alarm - once every 3 hours as a reminder to check in with myself how I am feeling. Am I holding on to things that don't serve? Maybe a snide remark passed by a friend or a family member is sticking to me and pulling me down or maybe lathargy has paid a visit. Checking in helps draw awareness to what's going on and helps me take positive action to course correct.
Its not always easy to transform uneasy feelings. Here are few things you can try to do if you spot anything pulling you down from expressing your best self:
A. Take a walk to clear your head
B. Rest. Allow yourself a break
C. Remind yourself of the power and the potential you have that's waiting to be expressed
D. Practice Visualisation : You can take a few deep breaths, inhaling all the way up from the tips of your toes to the crown of your head, filling up your body with positive energy and as you exhale, exhale fully, all the way down, crown of your head to the tips of your toes, letting go of stuff sticking to you that you want to get rid of. Take as many full breaths as you need to feel better. You can also choose to take a shower and allow the water to symbolically wash off anything thats sticking to you - other people's ideas, opinions, judgements, expectations, maybe some of your own expectations etc. that's pulling you down.
E. And if nothing works then just remind yourself that everything passes. Give it time. Your feelings will change. That's a guarantee.
This kind of pausing from time to time to check in with ourselves helps create space to look at what's going on and allows us to take positive action to reset and refocus our attention to what we truly care about.
2. Remind yourself to cultivate a beginners mind, more often:
Challenge yourself to drop pre-conceived ideas about people you meet. Even though you may already know them. Try to meet them like you are meeting them for the first time. Notice if you experience any change in the interaction with this new mindset.
Also challenge yourself to approach daily tasks - your work, leisure activity etc. with a fresh perspective. Instead of assuming how things would go, cultivate an openness to the possibility of a different experience each time. Notice if this fresh perspective changes your experience.
3. Ritual of offering:
I learnt this from Tami Simon, the founder of Sounds True in one of her teachings. And I have adapted it to suit my own needs.
The Ritual : Everyday morning, evening or whenever you remember just let go of all the should’s/ should not's, should be / should not be's and surrender to forces more powerful than your own small self. You can do the practice standing or seated. Close your eyes or keep them open (whatever feels good), take a few deep breaths and when you are feeling calm & settled, symbolically offer all of your thoughts, ideas, beliefs in all 4 directions, emptying your mind and creating space to receive guidance from the Universe.
What makes this practice powerful for me is my belief in the synchronosities of the Universe. But if you don't have that faith, then you can skip this practice.
4. Cultivate the practice of 'looking at the world with quiet eyes':
‘Looking at the world with quiet eyes' is a practice taught by Sharon Salzberg, a meditation teacher. The practice asks of us to become conscious of our clinging to pleasant experiences, our repulsion and avoidance of uncomfortable experiences & our tendency to zone out with neutral experiences. And to let go of this automatic pilot response & instead soften our gaze and allow ourselves to be more receptive to what is around us - neither clinging nor avoiding, nor zoning out. I know it isn't an easy practice. But we can intend. And intentions are powerful and practice makes progress.
I hope you will join me in giving these daily practices a shot and do everything in your capacity to stay rooted to what truly matters to you.
Letting go as a way of life
As always expecting an article with a new idea and concept, and you never disappoint in it. Picked two new things: Visualization and seeing the world through quiet eyes.
Good One Puri...